Study Notes Week 35

Read
Aloud together to hear the Word (Leviticus 23:1-3; Nehemiah 8:1-4; Luke 4:16-17)

Torah Portion Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

Review

1. 1. Genesis 34:30-31 Jacob said to Shimon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.” 31 They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a whore?”
      1. Leviticus 21:9 The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, she profanes her father. She will be burned with fire.
         1. We know that Dinah, at just 12 years old, was not whoring herself, but in curiosity went forth to see the manners of the daughters of the people of the land and Shekem as the Shechemites were keeping a pagan festival, according to the Targum and Josephus. She went into the city to see the finery of the women of that country, according to Josephus.
            1. Jubilees 30:2 “And there they carried off Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, into the house of Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with her and defiled her, and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years.”
         2. If Dinah went to actually whore herself, the response from her father and brothers likely would have been much different and according to the Torah in Leviticus 21:9 (…if she profanes herself by whoring, she profanes her father. She will be burned with fire). We can see this from Judah in Genesis 38:24: About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has whored. Moreover, behold, she is with child by whoring.” Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
         3. What Happens to Dinah? Was She Pregnant? (Dinah and Shechem: A Story that Biblical Authors Kept Revising by Prof. Christoph Levin publish on TheTorah.com “Once the rape element was added, readers began to wonder what happened to Dinah and whether she had conceived a child from the rape, and if so what happened to it. Later interpretation offers a few possibilities:”
            1. Shimon Marries Her—In Genesis Rabbah (§80), Rav Huna identifies her as the unnamed Canaanite wife of Shimon and mother Shaul (Gen 46:10). Shimon would not have had intercourse with his sister, of course, given the prohibition in Leviticus 18:9 and 20:17. Shechem had fathered Shaul when he raped Dinah.^[32]
            2. Mother of Asenath—According to Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (§38) Jacob had expelled his granddaughter Asenath from his house,^[33] since her father was a Hivite and she was conceived in rape. But the angel Michael brought her to Egypt, where she was adopted by Potiphera, priest of On (Gen 41:45), whose wife was barren. This gives Joseph a Jewish wife, and, more importantly, Ephraim and Manasseh, a Jewish mother.
            3. Job’s Wife—The Talmud (b. Baba Batra 15b), discusses at length whether Job was a Jew, but asserts that his wife certainly was, since he had married Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. The keyword נְבָלָה “outrage” serve as a bridge between these two stories. When Job reproaches his wife, “You speak as one of the outrageous woman (הַנְּבָלוֹת) would speak” (Job 2:10), he was referring to Gen 34:7: “He had wrought outrage (נְבָלָה) in Israel.”
               1. We know this is not true because Job was an Edomite descended from Esau.
                  1. Genesis 36:31-33 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. 32 [Balak],^(LXX) the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 [Balak]^(LXX) died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place.
                  2. Jubilees 38:15-17 And these are the kings that reigned in Edom before there reigned any king over the sons of Israel [until this day] in the land of Edom. 16. And Bâlâq, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Danâbâ. 17. And Bâlâq died, and Jobab, the son of Zârâ of Bôsêr, reigned in his stead.
                  3. Job 42:16-17e (LXX) And Job lived after his affliction a hundred and seventy years…And he himself was the son of his father Zare, one of the sons of Esau, and of his mother Bosorrha, so that he was the fifth from Abraham. 17d And these were the kings who reigned in Edom, which country he also ruled over: first, Balak, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dennaba: but after Balak, Jobab, who is called Job…
            4. Bore a Child Named Saul and became a Canaanite women—When Shimon and Levi came to the city and killed Shechem and Hamor, they extricated Dinah from Shechem’s home. Since they risked their lives for her, the Torah (Gen. 34:25) calls them, specifically, “Shimon and Levi, brothers of Dinah” (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Masekhta de-Shirah, Beshalah 10). The Rabbis relate that the brothers were forced to drag Dinah out, because she was too ashamed to leave Shechem’s house. Finally, Shimon vowed to her that he would marry her. They wed, and a son was born from this union, “Saul the son of a Canaanite woman” (Gen. 46:10); Dinah was the “Canaanite woman,” because her behavior was like that of the Canaanites. According to another explanation of this appellation, when she died, Shimon buried her in Canaan (Gen. Rabbah 80:11).
               1. We know this is not true because Sha’ul was actually the son of the Zephathite woman Shimon married, not his sister Dinah’s child. Zephath was a city in the southern (Negev) of Israel and also called Hormah. Hormah was utterly destroyed by Israel during their journey through the wilderness (Numbers 21:103) and seems to have been rebuilt as Zephath. Then, Zephath was utterly destroyed by the tribes of Judah and Shimon in Judges 1:17. Shechem, on the other hand, is in the far north of the land of Israel close to Samaria.
                  1. Jubilees 44:13 Shimon and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the son of the Zephathite woman–seven.
                  2. Numbers 21:1-3 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive. 2 Israel vowed a vow to YHWH, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.” 3 YHWH listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites [into his hand];^{(LXX)(SP)(Syr)} and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.
                  3. Judges 1:17 Judah went with Shimon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah.
                  4. 
                  5. 
         4. To dispel the various myths and lies about Dinah, we will reveal that Dinah actually died after Joseph was sold into slavery and there is no record of her bearing a child from the rape of Shechem:
            1. Jubilees 34:15 And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in †Qafrâtêf† and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. 16. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also, his daughter, they buried there
      2. Leviticus 20:1-5 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Moreover, you will tell the sons of Israel, ‘Anyone of the sons of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his seed to Molek will surely be put to death. The people of the land will stone that person with stones. 3 I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his seed to Molek, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. 4 If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person when he gives of his seed to Molek, and don’t put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who whore after him to whore with Molek, from among their people.
         1. Jubilees 30:7-11 And if there is any man who wisheth in Israel to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is of the seed of the Nations he will surely die, and they will stone him with stones; for he hath wrought shame in Israel; and they will burn the woman with fire, because she hath dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she will be rooted out of Israel. 8. And let not an adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout all the days of the generations of the land; for Israel is holy unto the Lord, and every man who hath defiled (it) will surely die: they will stone him with stones. 9. For thus hath it been ordained and written in the heavenly tables regarding all the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) will surely die, and he will be stoned with stones. 10. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no forgiveness, nor any atonement: but the man who hath defiled his daughter will be rooted out in the midst of all Israel, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to defile it. 11. And do thou, Moses, command the sons of Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the Nations, and not to take for their sons any of the daughters of the Nations, for this is abominable before the Lord.
         2. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan And Jakob said to Shimeon and Levi, You have made my name to go forth as evil among the inhabitants of the land, among the Kenaanites and Phezerites. And I am a people of (small) number, and they will gather together against me, and destroy me and the men of my house. And Shimeon and Levi answered, It would not have been fit to be said in the congregations of Israel that the uncircumcised polluted the virgin, and the worshippers of idols debased the daughter of Jakob: but it is fit that it should be said, The uncircumcised were slain on account of the virgin, and the worshippers of idols on account of the daughter of Jakob. Shekem bar Hamor will not (now) deride us with his words; for as a whorish woman and an outcast who hath no avenger would he have made our sister, if we had not done this thing.
         3. Jerusalem Targum The two sons of Jakob answered together, and said to Israel their father, It would not be fit to be said in the congregations of Israel, in their house of instruction, that the uncircumcised polluted the virgin, and the worshippers of idols the daughter of Jakob; but it is fit that it be said in the congregations of Israel and in their house of instruction, that the uncircumcised were put to death for the sake of the virgin, and the worshippers of idols because they had defiled Dinah the daughter of Jakob. And Shekem bar Hamor will not boast in his heart and say, As a woman who hath no man to avenge her injury, so hath Dinah the daughter of Jakob been made. And they said, As an impure woman and an outcast would he have accounted our sister.]

Genesis 35:1-29

1. Genesis 35:1 Elohim said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to Elohim, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
   1. Josephus 1.21.2. Now while Jacob was astonished at the greatness of this act, and was severely blaming his sons for it, Elohim stood by him, and bid him be of good courage; but to purify his tents, and to offer those slaughters which he had vowed to offer when he went first into Mesopotamia, and saw his vision.
2. Genesis 35:2-3 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign elohim that are among you, clean yourselves, and change your garments. 3 Let’s arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to Elohim, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me on the way which I went. 4 They gave to Jacob all the foreign elohim which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
   1. Jubilees 31-2 And on the new moon of the month Jacob spake to all the people of his house, saying: “Purify yourselves and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where I vowed a vow to Him on the day when I fled from the face of Esau my brother, because He hath been with me and brought me into this land in peace, and put ye away the strange elohim that are among you.” 2. And they gave up the strange elohim and that which was in their ears and the idols which Rachel stole from Laban her brother she gave wholly to Jacob. And he burnt and brake them to pieces and destroyed them, and hid them under an oak which is in the land of Shechem.
   2. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.21.2. Now while Jacob was astonished at the greatness of this act, and was severely blaming his sons for it, Elohim stood by him, and bid him be of good courage; but to purify his tents, and to offer those slaughters which he had vowed to offer when he went first into Mesopotamia, and saw his vision. As he was therefore purifying his followers, he lighted upon the elohim of Laban; [for he did not before know they were stolen by Rachel;] and he hid them in the land, under an oak, in Shechem. And departing thence, he offered slaughter at Bethel, the place where he saw his dream, when he went first into Mesopotamia.
      1. Were the words of Jacob in Genesis 31:32 the reason Rachel dies so painfully and unceremoniously later in Genesis 35:16-19?
         1. Numbers 30:1-2 Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which YHWH has commanded. 2 When a man vows a vow to YHWH, or swears a swearing to [tie up a bond]^(MTT) upon his soul, he will not profane his word. He will do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
         2. Genesis 31:26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; 28 and didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly. 29 It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the Elohim of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.’ 30 Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father’s house, but why have you stolen my elohim?” 31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’ 32 Anyone you find your elohim with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maids; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them. 35 She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for for the way of women is on me.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.
3. Genesis 35:5 They traveled, and a terror of Elohim was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob.
4. Genesis 35:6-7 So Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there Elohim was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
   1. Jubilees 31:3-12 And he went up on the new moon of the seventh month to Bethel. And he built an altar at the place where he had slept, and he set up a pillar there, and he sent word to his father Isaac to come to him to his slaughter, and to his mother Rebecca. 4. And Isaac said: “Let my son Jacob come, and let me see him before I die.” 5. And Jacob went to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca, to the house of his father Abraham, and he took two of his sons with him, Levi and Judah, and he came to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca. 6. And Rebecca came forth from the tower to the front of it to kiss Jacob and embrace him; for her spirit had revived when she heard: “Behold Jacob thy son hath come”; and she kissed him. 7. And she saw his two sons, and she recognized them, and said unto him: “Are these thy sons, my son?” and she embraced them and kissed them, and blessed them, saying: “In you will the seed of Abraham become illustrious, and ye will prove a blessing on the land.” 8. And Jacob went in to Isaac his father, to the chamber where he lay, and his two sons were with him, and he took the hand of his father, and stooping down he kissed him, and Isaac clung to the neck of Jacob his son, and wept upon his neck. 9. And the darkness left the eyes of Isaac, and he saw the two sons of Jacob, Levi and Judah, and he said: “Are these thy sons, my son? for they are like thee.” 10. And he said unto him that they were truly his sons: “And thou hast truly seen that they are truly my sons.” 11. And they came near to him, and he turned and kissed them and embraced them both together. 12. And the spirit of prophecy came down into his mouth, and he took Levi by his right hand and Judah by his left…16. Thy mother hath called thy name Levi, And justly hath she called thy name; Thou wilt be joined to the Lord And be the companion of all the sons of Jacob; Let His table be thine, And do thou and thy sons eat thereof; And may thy table be full unto all generations, And thy food fail not unto all the ages…18. And to Judah he said: May the Lord give thee strength and power To tread down all that hate thee; A prince shalt thou be, thou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob; May thy name and the name of thy sons go forth and traverse every land and region. Then will the Nations fear before thy face, And all the nations will quake [And all the peoples will quake]. 19. In thee will be the help of Jacob, And in thee be found the salvation of Israel…
   2. Jubilees 31:31-32 And Jacob remembered the prayer with which his father had blessed him and his two sons, Levi and Judah, and he rejoiced and blessed the Elohim of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. 32. And he said: “Now I know that I have an eternal hope, and my sons also, before the Elohim of all;” and thus is it ordained concerning the two; and they record it as an eternal witness unto them on the heavenly tables how Isaac blessed them.
5. Genesis 35:8 Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.
6. Genesis 35:9-10 Elohim appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. 10 Elohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel.
7. Genesis 35:11-13 Elohim said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. 12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you I will give the land.” 13 Elohim went up from him in the place where he spoke with him.
8. Genesis 35:14-15 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a libation offering on it, and poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the name of the place where Elohim spoke with him “Bethel”.
9. Genesis 35:16-18 They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor. 17 When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.” 18 As her soul was departing, for she died, she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
   1. Testament of Benjamin Though many parts of the popular collections of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs contain interpolated Christian idea added by later copyists, these testaments were originally Jewish works composed during the same period as the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are preserved only in Greek, but most scholars now agree that the testaments were modeled after Aramaic or Hebrew originals. This fact is particularly clear in the case of the Testament of Levi. Although the Greek Testament of Levi was not found at Qumran, scholars did discover portions of the present work, an Aramaic composition that seems to have influenced it.
      Testament of Benjamin 1:1-6 The copy of the words of Benjamin, which he commanded his sons to observe, after he had lived a hundred and twenty-five years. 2 And he kissed them, and said: As Isaac was born to Abraham in his old age, so also was I to Jacob. 3 And since Rachel my mother died in giving me birth, I had no milk; therefore I was suckled by Bilhah her handmaid. 4 For Rachel remained barren for twelve years after she had borne Joseph; and she prayed the Lord with fasting twelve days, and she conceived and bare me. 5 For my father loved Rachel dearly, and prayed that he might see two sons born from her. 6 Therefore was I called Benjamin, that is, a son of days.
10. Genesis 35:19 Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, also called Bethlehem. 20 Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of the grave of Rachel to this day.
11. Genesis 35:21 Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
    1. 
12. Genesis 35:22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it…
    1. Jubilees 33:1-23 And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra’ef. 4 And he went to his father Isaac, he and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. 2. And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her. 3. And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in her house. 4. And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered that it was Reuben. 5. And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled. 6. And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one. 7. And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: “I am not clean for thee, for I have been defiled as regards thee; for Reuben hath defiled me, and hath lain with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.” 8. And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father’s skirt. 9. And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who uncovereth his father’s skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before the Lord.
       1. Leviticus 18:6-8 None of you will approach any near kin of his flesh, to uncover their [indecency]^(LXX) I am YHWH. 7 You will not uncover the [indecency]^(LXX) of your father, nor the [indecency]^(LXX) of your mother: she is your mother. You will not uncover her [indecency].^(LXX) 8 You will not uncover the [indecency]^(LXX) of your father’s wife. It is your father’s [indecency].^(LXX)
       2. Leviticus 20:11 The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s [indecency].^(LXX) Both of them will surely be put to death. Their blood will be upon themselves.
       3. Deuteronomy 22:28-30 28 If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, grabs her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her will give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She will be his wife, because he has had intercourse with her. He may not put her away all his days. 30 A man will not take his father’s wife, and will not uncover his father’s wing.
          1. כָּנָף kanaph (H3671) = wing, extrementy, edge, border, etc.
             1. Numbers 15:38-40 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they should make themselves fringes on the wings of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of the wing a cord of blue. 39 It will be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all the commandments of YHWH, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to whore; 40 so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your Elohim.
13. Genesis 35:22-26 …Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, Shimon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, the servant of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, the servant of Leah: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
14. Genesis 35:27 Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.
    1. Josephus 1.22.1 From thence Jacob came to Hebron, a city situate among the Canaanites; and there it was that Isaac lived: and so they lived together for a little while; for as to Rebeka, Jacob did not find her alive. Isaac also died not long after the coming of his son; and was buried by his sons, with his wife, in Hebron, where they had a monument belonging to them from their forefathers. Now Isaac was a man who was beloved of Elohim, and was vouchsafed great instances of providence by Elohim, after Abraham his father, and lived to be exceeding old; for when he had lived virtuously one hundred and eighty-five years, he then died.
15. Genesis 35:28-29 The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. 29 Isaac gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.